The St. Paul man accused of killing his wife 17 years ago in Iowa City, Iowa, has been released from prison and is back at home awaiting trial.

John Bloomfield, 73, was released Thursday from the Iowa Medical and Classification Center prison in Coralville, Iowa, and has returned home.

It marked the first release of a person charged with first-degree murder in Johnson County in at least 20 years.

"It's unique certainly in my experience and so far as I know, has not been done in Iowa before," Bloomfield's attorney, Leon Spies, said of the release granted in mid-March by Sixth Judicial District Judge Paul Miller.

Marsha Bloomfield (Courtesy of Gannett Co.)

"The judge always looks at the two primary considerations, which are the person's likelihood of flight to avoid trial and whether or not the person represents a danger to the community and the court found appropriately that Mr. Bloomfield is neither a flight risk nor a danger to the community and release under these unique circumstances was appropriate."

Assistant County Attorney Jude Pannell, who resisted Bloomfield's request for release, said a person charged with first-degree murder has not been granted release in Johnson County at least as far back as 1997, when Bloomfield allegedly murdered his wife Frances Bloomfield.

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Spies requested Bloomfield be released from prison in February, reading a list of medical conditions from which his client suffers -- including metastatic prostate cancer that has spread to the his ribs, vertebrae and lymph nodes as well as heart disease, diabetes and sleep deprivation.

Spies said Bloomfield's health was declining because of lack of sleep from staying in the IMCC and he could have less than one year to live.

Under stipulations in his release, Bloomfield will be able to leave his home for up to four hours, once a week for travel to and from medical appointments, court appearances and meetings with his attorney and other basic needs such as buying groceries or doing laundry, according to court documents. Bloomfield's travel is limited to Hennepin and Ramsey counties, and he must give notice to officials before any approved travel.

Bloomfield also will be allowed to walk within a one-block radius of his home daily for exercise and had to pay for a GPS monitoring device, according to court documents.

Bloomfield was arrested in November at his home in St. Paul and charged with the first-degree murder of his wife, Frances Bloomfield, who was found dead Sept. 22, 1997, in a ditch outside Rockford, Ill.

Prosecutors say Frances Bloomfield was fatally strangled at the couple's home in southeast Iowa City and her body dumped in Illinois.

Police used forensic evidence to link Bloomfield to his wife's murder, including DNA found on a ligature used to bind Frances Bloomfield's body, and a hair found stuck to tape on the body.

Charged with first-degree murder, a class A felony, Bloomfield's bond was initially set at $1 million. If found guilty, he will face a mandatory life sentence in prison. Bloomfield has pleaded not guilty to the charge and his jury trial is scheduled for July 8 in Johnson County District Court.